A Practice Theory Framework for Understanding Vegan Transition Richard Twine Edge Hill University
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Animal Studies Journal Volume 6 | Number 2 Article 12 2017 A Practice Theory Framework for Understanding Vegan Transition Richard Twine Edge Hill University Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/asj Part of the Art and Design Commons, Australian Studies Commons, Creative Writing Commons, Digital Humanities Commons, Education Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Film and Media Studies Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Philosophy Commons, Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons, and the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Twine, Richard, A Practice Theory Framework for Understanding Vegan Transition, Animal Studies Journal, 6(2), 2017, 192-224. Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/asj/vol6/iss2/12 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] A Practice Theory Framework for Understanding Vegan Transition Abstract A shift in the ocs ial norm of meat consumption is a transition that is repeatedly called for in climate change policy discourse. Yet this rarely sets out practically how such reduction might be achieved and, surprisingly, has yet to look to vegans as a knowledge resource. In drawing upon interview data with 40 UK vegans this article outlines an initial framework toward the greater normalisation of plant-based eating via attentiveness to the elements of vegan practice. These vegan narratives illustrate how the practice is already working for a small section of the UK population. In adopting a practice theory approach, the article offers greater insights into both the obstacles and potential of pro-vegan policy which could have cobenefits cra oss several domains of public health and sustainability. This journal article is available in Animal Studies Journal: https://ro.uow.edu.au/asj/vol6/iss2/12 A PRACTICE THEORY FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING VEGAN TRANSITION A Practice Theory Framework for Understanding Vegan Transition Richard Twine Edge Hill University Abstract: A shift in the social norm of meat consumption is a transition that is repeatedly called for in climate change policy discourse. Yet this rarely sets out practically how such reduction might be achieved and, surprisingly, has yet to look to vegans as a knowledge resource. In drawing upon interview data with 40 UK vegans this article outlines an initial framework toward the greater normalisation of plant-based eating via attentiveness to the elements of vegan practice. These vegan narratives illustrate how the practice is already working for a small section of the UK population. In adopting a practice theory approach, the article offers greater insights into both the obstacles and potential of pro-vegan policy which could have co- benefits across several domains of public health and sustainability. Keywords: veganism, food, practice theory, social norms, climate change, sustainability 192 A PRACTICE THEORY FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING VEGAN TRANSITION 1. Introduction Given that global temperatures are warmer than during 75% of the Holocene temperature history (Marcott et al.), the average global temperature is over 1⁰C above pre-industrial levels and 2016 was the hottest year on record for the third year in a row1 it seems a fair assessment that we have entered a crisis with regard to climate change. In the absence of policy action toward required systemic infrastructural change to avert what may be a 4⁰C rise by 2061 (Betts et al.), this article explores how a low carbon eating practice, veganism (Berners-Lee et al.) can be understood through the lens of a practice theory (Shove et.al. ‘Dynamics’) approach to sustainable transitions. Agricultural production and food consumption practices constitute, alongside energy and transport, one of the main three sectors contributing to anthropogenic climate change.2 Sustainable food practices, which are increasingly discussed in terms of co-benefits to human health and greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation (Springmann et al.; SDC), involve the localisation of production, seasonal consumption and reducing food waste. Additionally, a low or no meat diet forms an important part of most definitions of sustainable eating practices (SDC). Construing the exact contribution of global animal agriculture is both a technical challenge and a politicised debate in itself. It is contested scientific knowledge. The well-known FAO report Livestock’s Long Shadow (Steinfeld et al.) argued that animal agriculture contributes 18% of all GHGs (with agriculture overall 30%). A more recent FAO report claimed the figure to be 14.5% (Gerber et al.). Between these a Worldwatch report had claimed the figure to be as high as 51% (Goodland and Anhang). Even the most conservative of these figures places the contribution of animal agriculture above that of transport. Methane (CH4) accounts for just under half of agricultural emissions with most of that coming from animal production.3 This is significant since although it does not remain in the atmosphere for as long as CO2 its global warming potential is 72 times higher over a 20 year period. Mitigating animal sources of methane then could make a significant contribution alongside other policies toward tackling climate change. The urgency with which cumulative carbon in the atmosphere must be faced and the relative potential amenability of food practices to change makes this an important focus of attention. 193 A PRACTICE THEORY FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING VEGAN TRANSITION Although practice theory approaches to sustainability transitions have mostly attended to energy- or transport-related practices, this article contributes to its understandings of sustainable food practices. The main aim of this article is to explore the potential of practice theory as an explanatory framework for vegan transition, contributing further to the social science literature on food practices, critical animal studies and climate change. The Vegan Society defines veganism as ‘a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose’4 and includes environmental and health dimensions as further justifications for the practice. Attempting to harness veganism for what is at first glance the ‘environmental’ cause of ameliorating climate change potentially conflicts with initial self-reported explanations for becoming vegan (reinforced by participants in this study) in terms of animal ethics. However, I frame this article in terms of climate change mitigation for three main reasons. Firstly, those aforementioned studies underlining the environmental and climate change consequences of diets high in meat and dairy make clear the broader ecological impact of animal commodification. Secondly, I intend this article to act as an addition to much needed lines of communication between critical animal studies and environmental social science. Thirdly and crucially, given already occurring impacts on animal (human and nonhuman) life attributable to climate change (see for example Pearce-Higgins & Green) it is not ontologically or normatively accurate to falsely dichotomise an ‘environmental veganism’ from a ‘veganism for the animals’, since the former is also the latter. As Janssen et al. found in their study, multiple meanings are important to the majority of vegans in adopting and maintaining the practice. Climate change has emerged as perhaps the most pressing policy issue of this century, yet eating practices also speak to other environmental problems, to other health issues and clearly to ethical questions surrounding our treatment of other animals. The rapid expansion of animal production during the twentieth century, itself made possible by the availability of cheap oil, now sees the sector enmeshed in several contemporary crises. These relate to water scarcity, competition over land use, deforestation, biodiversity loss, famine, zoonoses, heart disease, links with certain cancers, obesity and the question of eroding antibiotic efficacy in humans due to their use in farmed animals. It is thus not surprising that the animal-industrial 194 A PRACTICE THEORY FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING VEGAN TRANSITION complex (Noske; Twine ‘Revealing the Animal-Industrial Complex’) has emerged as a problematic set of practices and that many reports and papers are now effectively arguing for its downsizing on environmental, health and biodiversity grounds, especially in ‘developed’ countries (for example Bailey et al.; ETC Group; Foley et al.; Garnett; MacMillan and Durrant; McMichael et al.; Machovina et al.; Nellemann et al.; Pelletier and Tyedmers; SDC; Stehfest et al.; Steinfeld and Gerber; Tomlinson; Wirsenius et al.). The fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) similarly and belatedly included research data on dietary change under its mitigation working group. From these large-scale analyses there is an important sociological role to focus on the normalisation of everyday practices which maintain unsustainable patterns of consumption. Veganism as a small but growing practice (in the UK approximately 1% of the adult population now self-identify as vegan5) that contests such normalisation should also be an obvious empirical focus because of the potential to comprehend the knowledge required to successfully perform the practice. There has been surprisingly little social science research with vegans (for exceptions see